First Top Chef SA contestant gets the chop

Johannesburg - Emotions ran high in the first episode of SABC 3’s Top Chef South Africa on Tuesday night.

Gauteng-based business consultant and caterer, Tsholo Mbele was the first contestant to be eliminated. Her cottage pie, which she made during the Elimination Challenge as a dish that best represents her, won no favours from the judges; Neill Anthony, Lesego Semenya and Lorna Maseko.

Tsholo, who has been cooking since she was just 10 years old, held her composure as she said her goodbyes and packed her knives. But her fellow cheftestants didn’t hold up as well, with many of them reduced to tears as they realised their own fragility in the high-stakes competition.

The first episode was not short on drama as the 14 established chefs were put through their paces in the first Quickfire Challenge ‘Whip, shuck and chop’. Racing against the clock they had to finely chop two onions, whip six egg whites to stiff peaks, and shuck as many oysters as possible.

It was Phillip Nel, a chef de partie at Rust en Vrede wine estate, who won the Quickfire Challenge and secured immunity for the Elimination Challenge.

The judges then challenged the cheftestants to make a dish that best described them as a person and chef for the Elimination Challenge. With unlimited access to the pantry and 2 hours to prepare their meal, each cheftestant demonstrated their own unique style and background in cooking. But drama struck when, with just 10 minutes to spare, cheftestant Ayabonga Gope’s dish landed on the floor and he was forced to start again.

Ayabonga showed grit and determination whipping up a dish that kept him from landing in the bottom three. Tsholo, Paddy Khuele and Hezron Louw had to face the dreaded Judges’ Table, with Tsholo asked to pack her knives and leave.

Annemarie Robertson’s seared tuna with a chakalaka twist was named the first favourite dish.